Saturday, January 22, 2011

These days I start only small projects. I think I finally got the hang of threading the beads (yay for me!). I love using Shetland wool for wrist warmers. This time I chose a pattern that is easy to memorize, so I can take this project along wherever I go to. Unfortunately, I realized that I have not thread enough beads for the second one, so I do have to wait till I get home before I continue on this one.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

The mittens are finished! They are still unblocked, but I couldn't wait to post about them. As it is somewhat warm round here, I'll have enough time to get them ready for the next cold days.

I did not follow any specific pattern for this one, just used some traditional motifs out of a Lithuanian booklet for mitten knitting. I learned how to do a Latvian braid here. This is a very easy and straightforward tutorial. Thumb construction was done according to this tutorial.

All other details are on my Rav project page here. I am very happy about how these turned out and am off to start a new pair.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Yellow was not working well enough as a CC with my first try at Jan11 Mock socks. Now I'm using two distinct colours that I chose because of the crosses in the pattern. I kept thinking of the Swiss flag and that red and white would work far better for this pattern. Lucky me, both colours were in my stash, so I got could rip the other pair back and start afresh.

Knit-along that involves a mystery pattern is a bit like doing home-work. Somehow I want to have clue Nr. 2 finished before the next clue gets published this Saturday. Also, it is a big question as to where the design is going next.

Mosaic knitting is a very easy colourwork technique and I'm glad I got to try this out. It looks far more complicated than it is. Check out other great mosaic patterns.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

It's mitten time right now. I feel also so tempted to knit so many of them. In fact, when I bought Kauni wool in Vienna, it was supposed to become this. However, once I had the wool, I had so many different ideas and now I'm trying some of them out.

Friday, January 7, 2011

I love knitted socks, love wearing them and have a bunch of people who would love to receive some. A nice way to learn a new technique is to join a knit-along. And SockKnittersAnonymous group on Ravelry is a perfect place to do exactly that. Anyways, I joined the January mystery sock knit-along and so far only one clue has been posted and I finished that part on my first sock. I haven't done any mosaic knitting before, so am not quite sure yet what contrasting colour to choose. Should I just take a shade of blue and be on the safe side or would that blend too much in with the rest of the pattern? Or should I go for something bolder like purple or red? Any ideas/ suggestions would be most welcome.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Right after Xmas I had an urge to knit a huge warm cowl. I had 2 skeins of Cascade Eco for which I never found quite the right project (or the energy to knit something as impressive as Jared Flood's Hemlock Ring blanket).

I did not use any pattern for it, inspiration were the following patterns, though: GAP-tastic cowl, Marian and Slouchy Snood. I used a moebius cast-on for this as I wanted a twist in it. Otherwise, I just knit on until I finished one skein of Cascade Eco. It is really warm and I can wrap it around my neck three times. Just perfect for cold and windy winter days...

Happy New Year to all! I've had fun reading your resolution posts the last few days. I've been thinking if I should join and post one as well, however, these so totally do not work for me. It is almost as if I am meant to fail all of them as soon as I spell it out...